International Academy Updates Protocols for Confirming and Announcing Discovery of Alien Life

The International Academy of Astronautics has updated its protocols for confirming and announcing the discovery of alien life. The academy, based in Paris, France, most recently revised the protocols in 2010 after they were first adopted in 1989. The updates are the result of years of work and input from more than 350 researchers around the world.

Michael Garrett, chair of the academy's committee for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, said the changes respond to current conditions. "In an era of deepfakes, automated misinformation, and instant global connectivity, unverified claims could trigger confusion or panic," Garrett stated.

" The protocols maintain a rigorous verification process to confirm the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence and report it to the scientific community, the United Nations, and the public.

They advise avoiding responding to confirmed extraterrestrials without appropriate input from the international community such as the UN. The protocols also establish a post-detection committee with experts from a variety of backgrounds tasked with advising on the longer-term societal implications of a confirmed discovery.

Garrett said the process requires broad agreement before any public statement.

"We do not shout 'alien' the moment we see a strange blip," he stated. " The updates come amid heightened public interest in UFOs, now called UAPs, and recent government hearings on the topic. President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to begin releasing some files of investigations into UFO reports, now referred to as unidentified anomalous phenomena.

Steven Spielberg's film "Disclosure Day" starring Emily Blunt recently hit theaters.